Alappuzha: The Alappuzha South Police, investigating the accident in Alappuzha that claimed the lives of five medical students, have submitted a report to the court naming G Gourishankar, who was driving the car at the time of the accident, as the accused.

This latest report replaces the First Information Report (FIR) registered earlier, which had held the KSRTC bus driver responsible for the collision.

According to the Motor Vehicles Department, Gourishankar’s vision may have been impaired by the bright lights of a car that overtook the KSRTC bus and approached him from the opposite direction.

In his statement to the police, Gourishankar, a resident of Kannankulangara in Tripunithura, stated that the accident occurred while attempting to overtake another vehicle. As he tried to overtake the vehicle from the right, he could not accelerate enough to complete the manoeuvre. At the same time, a KSRTC bus approached from the opposite direction, prompting him to apply the brakes suddenly. This caused the car to lose control, veer to the right, and collide with the bus.

Meanwhile, one of the three students critically injured in the accident, Alwin George from Edathuva, has been transferred to a private hospital in Ernakulam. He was shifted using an ambulance equipped with a ventilator. The condition of the other two critically injured students, Anand Manu of Karthika House, Poruvazhy, Kollam, and Krishnadev of Manappurath House, Cherthala, has slightly improved and both have been taken off ventilator support.

Gourishankar and Muhsin of Veluthedathu Makkathil House, Chavara, Kollam, are undergoing treatment. Another passenger, Shane Denston from Mariyanad, Thiruvananthapuram, miraculously escaped without major injuries but suffered significant mental trauma. He has since returned home with his parents.

The accident occurred on Monday night near the Kalarcode junction in Alappuzha. A group of 11 medical students was travelling from their hostel in a rented car to watch a movie in Alappuzha town.